Usefull information on Taxis
Taxis are plentiful and reasonably priced and drivers are on the whole fairly honest. On busy streets they can be found and flagged down at virtually any time of the day or night. All official taxis are painted white with a red diagonal stripe across the front doors.
The meter starts at a set minimum price. There are different fees for day, night, weekdays, holidays and depending on the area of the city.
Make sure the meter is running, otherwise you risk being being overcharged. When taking taxis from the airport, train and bus stations, it is advisable to use the official taxi ramps as roaming touts who offer lifts are often on the look out for an easy rip-off.
When you get your taxi DONT stick your luggage in the back seat, put it into the boot, or you will pay an extra charge for inside-the-taxi-luggage.
There are supplements for:
- departure or arrival to the airport (extra 5 €)
- departure or arrival to the IFEMA fairground (approx 3 €)
- departure from bus or train stations (approx 3 €)
- some holidays
- LUGGAGE: you pay if you put it inside the taxi, NOT if it goes in the boot.
- TAXI BOOKINGS: they will charge you the journey from the closest taxi stop to the meeting point.
Taxi booking telephones:
- 902 478 200/ 91 5478 200
- 91 405 12 13 / 91 40 55 500
- 902 50 11 30 / 91 371 21 31
- 91 447 32 32
- 91 539 04 00
For reaching the apartament from the airport, Taxi will charge approximate 20 to 30 Euros, depending on the traffic.
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FOR GETTING TO THE APARTMENT, INDICATE US FROM WHICH HIGHWAY YOU ARE COMMING INTO MADRID, WE WILL HELP YOU OUT WITH SOME MORE INFORMATION.
PLEASE NOTE YOU HAVE A UNDERGROUND PARKING SPACE INCLUIDED IN THE PRICE.
Driving in Madrid is complicated... Signaling is not very good -to say the least-, and traffic jams are part of Madrid's life every where and at any time. And always remember to respect the bus & taxi lane.
Trying to park in the center is an experience that could be described as torture: There are no parking places anyway, but even if you find one from 9.00 to 20.00 at weekdays and from 9.00 to 15.00 on Saturdays, you must take into account the following regulations:
- Green areas are basically for residents. You need the resident card to use them, if not, you have to pay -like for blue areas- and stay a maximum of 1 hour.
- Blue areas are for visitors. You can stay a maximum of 2 hours paying the fee for the time you are planning to stay at the "parquímetro": these are blue elongated machines that you will find on the pavement of the blue areas. You must place the ticket at sight into the car.
- There is an active tow truck service which can, in the most un expected moment, take away your car if it's not correctly parked. If that happens you have to call 917 877 292.
This is the situation. So obviously the only reasonable thing to do is to go to a parking area. There are quite a lot in the center. We reccomend not to leave luggage at sight into the car, either in the street or in parking areas...most are safe, but prevention is always a good idea.
Madrid Rings & Highways Network:
Madrid has 7 main highways entering and leaving the city: A-1 to A- 6 and the A-42. The A stands for Autovía (highway), and P stands for Pay (peaje - toll), therefore, the AP -6 is the toll highway 6, while A -6 is a non payment highway. Madrid has three major ring roads, the inner-one known as the M-30 circulates inside the urban centre, and therefore, it often has heavy traffic, the outer ones are the M-40, which stretches round the suburban Madrid and the M -50 which runs across what are still today fields. The radial roads R -which are toll paying roads- link the three ringways (M-30, M-40, M-50), in order to avoid taking the A roads, which are ussually more congested.
There are now 'Deterrent Parking Areas' at some train and metro stations in suburban Madrid, which allow you to leave the car at a free of charge parking area and take public transport to get to the city center.
A-1 (Burgos Highway)
Also known as the 'Autovia del Norte', this highway connects Madrid to Burgos and Santander, to the cities of the Basque regions (Vitoria, Bilbao, San Sebastian), to France via Irún, and to the ferries to the British Isles.
A-2 (Barcelona Highway)
This is a direct highway to Barcelona and the Costa Brava, via Guadalajara, Zaragoza, through the Monegros desert, and Lérida. Also connects to Southern France via Portbou.
A-3 (Valencia Highway)
Used for travelling to and from Cuenca, Albacete, Murcia, and the following Mediterranen cities/costal areas: Alicante (Costa Blanca), Valencia, and Castellon (Costa de Azahar), and an alternative route to eastern Andalucía.
A-4 (Andalucia Highway)
This is the route to and from the following cities: Cuidad Real, Jaén, Cordoba, Sevilla, Granada, Almería, Malaga, Cádiz, Jerez de la Frontera, Tarifa, Costa del Sol, Gibraltar and the ferries to Morocco.
A- 5 (Extremadura Highway)
Highway to Talavera, Trujillo, Cáceres, Mérida, Badajoz, Lisbon and Southern Portugal. Also, an alternative route to western Andalucía.
A- 6 (A Coruña Highway)
Leads to: El Escorial, Segovia, Avila, Salamanca, Valladolid, Zamora, León, the cities of Galicia and Asturias, and northern Portugal.
A-42 (Toledo Highway)
To Toledo.
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